Content:

(H, PCPC, BB, C, Ho, LL, V, S, N, , M) Light humanist worldview with some overt and implied, strong overall politically correct content that consists of a line delivery mocking man’s Republican father-in-law who’s also a hunter, man hits a stranger while calling him a “homophobe” after some unseen altercation and an ironic situation at the end once again attacks the hunting Republican father-in-law, plus some strong moral elements regarding love of spouse and family, some references to Christmas, and the aforementioned politically correct defense of homosexuality; 14 obscenities, four strong profanities and six light profanities; light violence with some blood includes man accidentally shot, man runs from pursuers and man hits another man; light sexual content includes implied premarital sex, passionate kissing with woman on man’s lap, camera cuts away after unmarried couple starts taking off clothes, and implied marital sex; brief rear female nudity and upper and rear male nudity, but not in sexual contexts; alcohol use; no smoking or drugs; and, stealing clothes, breaking and entering, and man teaches daughter how to pick a lock.

Summary:

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is based on the popular novel about a man whose quirky ability to time travel threatens his marriage to the love of his life. THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE is well done but not brilliant and contains some positive elements, but it also has a light humanist worldview with strong politically correct content, plenty of foul language and implied sex.

Review:

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is a bittersweet romantic drama that’s also a science fiction story. Though some of its sentiments are positive (morally speaking), the movie’s worldview is ultimately humanist, but in a light way. Also, it includes some politically correct content attacking Republicans and hunters as well as a line of dialogue supporting the radical homosexual agenda trying to turn modern society into an anti-Christian tyranny. The movie’s politically correct content is not extremely didactic or constant, but it is annoying and gratuitous. The politically correct content attacking Republicans and hunters is especially bothersome because it plays an important role in how the movie ends.

The story opens with a young boy named Henry uncontrollably traveling through time and avoiding the crash that killed his mother, an opera singer. Cut to Henry as a young man who meets a pretty redhead named Clare in the library where he works. Clare already knows Henry, because his older self has been meeting her since she was six in the meadow outside her rich family’s home. She tells Henry this, but he doesn’t really believe her.

Soon, however, Clare and the younger Henry begin a romance. Clare tells Henry that she has always wanted to marry him, especially when he told her that he was a time traveler.

Flashbacks reveal how Clare and Henry first met. They also reveal that Henry cannot control his time traveling – it just happens to him. Also, Henry loses his clothes when he travels through time, so he has developed skills as a resourceful thief to steal and borrow clothes, apparently so people will not attack him for being naked. In one scene, however, he has to put on a woman’s blouse and the movie shows him punching another man and calling the man a “homophobe.”

Eventually, Henry asks Clare to marry him and she does. They decide that Henry’s condition is a genetic anomaly. The problem is, however, that Clare never knows when Henry will disappear and reappear. Also, Clare starts having miscarriages, which could mean that any baby they conceive suffers from Henry’s condition. All this causes a strain in their marriage. Thus, the time travel ability that brought them together also threatens to tear them apart.

Furthermore, Clare realizes there never has been a time where she has ever been visited by Henry past his middle 40s. Does this mean that Henry will die an early or untimely death?

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is bittersweet. It is sometimes sad but also joyful and inspiring. Although the acting by the two leads (Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams) is good, the chemistry between them does not seem quite strong enough. Thus, THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is not a really great romantic movie like SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE or last year’s ENCHANTED.

Also, though the movie has some strong positive moral elements about love for spouse and family, it has a light humanist worldview with no overt or implied positive references to God, Jesus Christ or God’s Law. The characters must rely on their own positive personal relationships instead. That, of course, is neither comforting nor a reason to celebrate, because, as this movie clearly shows, our relationships can be torn apart by circumstances if we do not have God, Jesus Christ or God’s Law to guide us.

Furthermore, the movie makes it a point to mock Henry’s father-in-law for being a Republican and for being a hunter. How awful! Not only that, but the father’s character as a Republican and a hunter also has a negative impact in the ending’s resolution of some of the movie’s plot problems. Blame it all on those mean Republicans and those mean hunters, not to mention the quote “homophobes” unquote!

All in all, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for the movie’s worldview problems, plenty of foul language, implied pre-marital sex, and its support of the stealing and thievery that its time travelers must do in order to survive.

In Brief:

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is based on the popular novel about a love that transcends time. It tells the story of Henry, who is cursed with a genetic anomaly that makes him an unwilling time traveler. For some reason, his time travels keep taking him to Clare, a girl who grows up to be a beautiful redhead. Eventually, they fall in love and get married. Sadly, Henry’s time travels force them apart repeatedly and have other negative consequences. Thus, the gift that brought them together also threatens to tear them apart.

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is bittersweet. It is sometimes sad but also joyful and inspiring. It is well done, but not brilliant. The movie has some strong positive moral elements about love for spouse and family, but it also has a light humanist worldview with strong politically correct content. For example, the ending and a couple lines attack Henry’s father-in-law for being a Republican and for going hunting! How awful! Of course, without God, Jesus Christ or God’s Law to guide us, our personal relationships are unreliable. There is also plenty of foul language and some implied sex. Thus, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong or extreme caution.